The Crow - City of Angels (1996)

Crow 2- much of the same

This movie is really good. However, it tries to hard to be like the original Crow. The similarities make it feel more like a remake than a sequel. For an interesting twist and a good solid sequel you should buy; "The Crow; Salvation". But if you are like me and you want the whole collection it is still a good watch. November 23, 2008

"Does The Corpse Have A Familiar Face?"

More of a remake than a sequel, "The Crow: City Of Angels" attempts to capitalize on the cult phenomenon of it's predecessor by basically repeating and rehashing it's basic premise without actually adding anything new or of merit. This time around, instead of Detroit, it's a decaying Los Angeles -- populated by set-pieces that look like they could be destroyed by a stiff breeze -- and Vincent Perez is summoned from the dead to avenge the death of his son and himself at the hands of a gang, with the help of Sarah (Mia Kirshner), who may or may not be the same Sarah from the first movie. Music video director Tim Pope, who hasn't done anything worthwhile since, gives this film a definite mid-90's look. Truth be told, not only does the movie look low-budget and meant for direct-to-video release, but also looks like something you would catch on HBO at three in the morning during a weekday. As hard as the script tries -- which, come to think of it, it doesn't -- it just can't match the potency of the original. Instead of getting to know our main characters and building the required backstory with the tragic elements needed, the exposition is handled in such a careless way. It seems like they wanted to get the story out of the way so they could get straight to the violence. A father avenging the murder of his own child? Should have had a little more emotional impact than what was actually presented in the movie. The actors all pretty much ham it up, although punk icon Iggy Pop manages to keep the audience from falling asleep, while his co-star, Thuy "Yellow Ranger" Trang, is at the very least, an interesting presence in a movie such as this. On all accounts, "The Crow: City Of Angels" is and was a complete and utter failure, dooming the rest of the franchise into direct-to-video Hell. Ironic, since the movies that came after it were actually, gulp, better. August 6, 2007

Falls Short of the Original Crow

If this movie had been the first in the Crow series, then its likely that more movie fans would have liked it. However, there was a first Crow movie starring the late Brandon Lee and its to that first movie that this Crow and the other Crow sequels are compared to. On those grounds, this Crow merits no more than a 4 out of 5 rating.

Let's face it, Vincent Perez is not a good substitute for Brandon Lee. The first 15 minutes of this movie were incomprehensible and had little to do with the rest of the movie.

However, there are some redeeming factors to this movie namely the music and the cinematography. Add in a script that has a strong second half, and you have a movie that is worth a rental at least. March 9, 2007

Good, not great.

Seeing The Crow flash across the screen again was something I wasn't sure I'd be able to experience again after the tragic misfortunes of the first Crow movie. I've heard it said that one of the crew members on the first movie actually thought it was cursed.

But this second movie, which is based around a new Crow (Vincent Perez) and the returning Sarah from the first movie (played in this one by the beautiful and dark Mia Kirshner) wasn't cursed like the first one, the curse this had was that it was a sequel to something that likely didn't need one. Although I enjoyed the dark circumstances that surrounded the actual onscreen play, with the nod to "La Dia De los Muertos" (The Day Of The Dead) being my favorite, the story about a murdered father who returns to avenge his son, to me, takes away from the romantic overtones of the first movie and the Crow comic book overall.

The original story was written by James O'Barr to help him exorcize the demons he lived with after losing his first love early in life and he's made mention that in truth, the Crows story was told then, and in his eyes had been told completely. But as with all things we find interesting or fall in love with, it was decided that there needed to be more, so they made more.

I kind of doubt Brandon Lee would have come back for the sequel if he'd lived as I'm sure he would have felt, as O'Barr did, that Eric Dravens story had been told. I make a few leaps here, making mention of things James has said to me and maybe a little of what I hope Brandon Lee would have done had he survived the accident that took his life, but I make them with the best intentions.

I enjoyed the movie, being a comic book geek, I was sure I would. I have to admit to having felt a little betrayed when the sequel came out, just as I was when the ensuing comic follow-ups came out, but the Crow has become an avenger of wrongs that couldn't be put right any other way, a dark hero to the masses who suffer and have no way to let that out other than to dream of a hero who would go beyond death to right their wrongs and although Eric and Shelleys story was told to completion, there are more stories to tell. This is one of them. There are others, there will be others, likely as many as there are people with stories of their own, because truly, who among us doesn't feel the need at some point in our lives to be avenged?

See the movie, be forewarned that it contains violence in the extreme, some nudity and a lot of what might be termed "the darker aspects of life", drugs, gangs, betrayels, S&M and torture. Iggy Pop, though not great either, was a welcome touch of dark realism to the play on the screen. If you go in with no expectations based on the first movie or the comic book, this 3 stars quickly becomes 3 1/2 or 4. November 26, 2006

Come on people really...It's a crow story.

The terrible mistake most viewers make when watching a Crow movie or a reading another Crow Novel or Comic is that they compare the "Crow" in question to the previous Crow or Crows. You have to understand that this character isn't "Eric" (Crow from the first film), This isn't Motor City Detroit, This is The City Of Angels and the main characters name is Ashe this is his life, his perspective. Its not supposed to be like the first Crow they are two different people and two different stories, thats all they are just stories, they are not sequels or prequels just installments. If you could see everyones life before your eyes would they look the same? No they wouldn't. Why? Because were all different. All the folks who gave this movie bad reviews did so because they are standing to close to a big picture, step back and see the big picture. The world and the ways of the Crow aren't so narrow that they would stay limited to the confines and brooding post-gothic nature of the first film.

Most of the people giving reviews probably don't even know that James O' Barr wrote the first Crow after losing the love of his life to a drunk driver, so all that pain, frustration, and hatred went into those pages and script. You can't create pain like that you have to know it. This is why the first Crow has an unfair advantage against all the new Crow movies, you can't turn water into wine, these directors had to work it in the best way they could.

By giving such harsh critique to these movies you may alter someones judgement and cause them to miss out on a really good film. Crow:City Of Angels was a good movie and a good Crow story. I myself loved the first film the most, I even remember the trailers that played "Big Empty" By Stone Temple Pilots which I still listen to today. But please don't drag this second installments name through the mud.

-Jon October 24, 2006

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